


A Very Mall Christmas

by amy_star



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Allergies, Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Other, Shopping Malls, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:21:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13109685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amy_star/pseuds/amy_star
Summary: A group of friends all work at the mall together, and Christmas is coming. Seth wins a bet, and Dean is unlucky with his girlfriend's baking. And it still ends up the best Christmas ever, because sometimes friends are family too.





	A Very Mall Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moiself](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moiself/gifts).



> From the prompts "Character A loses a bet and has to wear a different ugly Christmas sweater every day till Christmas. Character B works at a clothes store." and ”Don’t you think you should have told me you were allergic to cinnamon before I made cinnamon cookies?” I put a twist on the first prompt and worked the second into it, I hope it works for you.

Seth cackled as Dean settled into the seat across from him. They were in the food court at the mall they both worked at, having their usual lunch together. They were the leaders of the pack of mall employees that hung out and shared lunch breaks together, most managers and assistant managers of their stores. If lunches went long, they chalked it up to networking, when really it was mostly gossip and planning personal lives out. On any given day, three to eight of them would meet up at around two in the afternoon and take over, pushing tables together and generally being the bane of the janitorial staff’s existence.  
“What’s he laughing about?” Sami asked, as he dropped into the seat beside Dean.  
“He won the bet.” Dean shrugged, a smirk blooming on his face as he saw Tony coming up behind Seth, a look of fury on his normally composed features.  
“It was awesome.” Seth grinned, hands going up in a victory salute as Tony sat beside him. “I killed his time. Two whole minutes faster. Long Live CrossFit Jesus.” He spread his arms wide before sliding one around Tony’s neck for an instant.  
“I still want a redo. Double or nothing.” His scowl deepened as he took in the absolute glee on Seth’s face.  
“Don’t know that you can double that bet, Tony. ‘S already December. What ya gonna do, wear two sweaters?” Dean gestured with his fork before spearing a piece of broccoli off of Sami’s plate with a deft move.  
“Uh oh. Based on that look, I’m guessing Seth won?” Becky pulled out the chair on the other side of Dean and sat, silently offering him her fries as he slid her his cookies.  
“You should know that no one beats me when there are fashion stakes on the line, Becks,” said Seth with a grin. “I wasn’t made assistant manager at Urban Planet for being a pretty face, you know.”  
“Nah, it was for your cruel, petty tyranny.” Dean laughed until he was kicked firmly under the table by his roommate.  
“What if I backed out? I can’t just wear ugly sweaters. I’m the manager at my store. I have to represent them...” Tony was clearly plotting something.  
“You wouldn’t.” Sami looked aghast. “A deal is a deal. You had more than a fair chance to beat Seth, you both CrossFit all the time. I actually put money on you to win this bet.”  
“Oh yeah, pay up!” Dean stuck his hand out.  
“How about we just call it wiping your debt clean?” Sami raised an eyebrow at Dean. “I mean, how many lunches have I bought you in the past month?”  
“Not my fault I can’t keep track of my wallet and you’re a soft touch. Not that I don’t appreciate it.” Dean shoulder-bumped Sami. “But yeah, I’m cool with that. Maybe cut me a deal when I do my Christmas shopping?”  
“I can’t do that! We aren’t allowed to share our discounts!” Sami looked shocked, making the others burst out laughing.  
“Look, it’s not like I don’t lose something too. I gotta help provide you with the sweaters to wear because I know you don’t own anything that... questionable. So I have to buy you some of these God-awful creations, so I’m gonna spend some of my own hard-earned cash on this. I’ll split it down the middle with you. We have 22 sweaters to choose from at the store, so I’ll buy half, and you can buy half. Well, pay me back for half, because I can’t share my discount.” Seth grinned over at Sami.  
“Oh my God, Seth. A different one every day? No repeats? This is cruel. Even with your discount, my half is going to cost me almost $200. That’s ridiculous.”  
“That was the bet, baby. Come shop with me after you’re done work today. I’ll stay, we can do dinner afterwards.”  
“If you expect me to do this I want more than dinner.” Tony frowned and crossed his arms petulantly.  
“And that’s my cue to go,” Sami said, packing up the remains of his lunch and standing.  
“Sounds like we’re chilling at your place tonight,” Dean said with a smile at Becky.  
“Hey now. I’m feeling awfully judged over here,’ Seth said, a frown crossing his face.  
“What, you want an audience? You ain’t always quiet, you know. Just trying to give you guys some privacy to do whatever freaky shit gets you making that high-pitched squealing, man.” Dean shrugged as Becky slapped the back of his head. “Ow! It’s true!”  
“Doesn’t mean you talk about it, Dean! That’s rude!” Becky stood, pulling him up with her.  
Color bloomed on Seth’s face as Tony cracked a grin for the first time that day. “Sounds like a perfect evening to me,” he said with a low chuckle. “Don’t come home until after 11.”  
“You got it, man.” Dean leaned over and bumped fists with Tony while Seth gave him a glare followed by sticking his tongue out at him.

No one thought Tony would stand by the deal. Seth even gave him an out – something private, so of course everyone speculated it was some kind of weird fetish thing – but Tony proved to be a man of his word. Every day a new sweater, each uglier than the last. Tony said he had planned out each outfit so the ugliest would fall on Christmas day. He swore up and down he would find a way to make Seth pay, but considering he matched his tie and slacks to the sweaters, everyone thought he secretly was enjoying the attention he was getting with all his “festive” attire.  
By the second week, Seth was sick of it. The point was to make Tony annoyed. And here he was, holding up two ties and asking Seth which looked better with the God-awful green sweater showing a fireplace with Velcro stockings you could place anywhere on it. Tony was adorable when annoyed, and Seth loved kissing the frown off his face while straddling his lap. That was really the reward he wanted from winning the bet. This? Helping Tony match an outfit? It was too much like work, and he was over it. He was lying on Tony’s bed, burying his face under a pillow and wondering if screaming into it was too melodramatic or just melodramatic enough when Tony came over and pulled the pillow off with an amused chuckle of his own.  
Seth just glared at him.  
“It’s not so fun when I play along too much, is it? Maybe next time you will consider the terms of your bet more carefully. I am a master of making the best of a bad situation.”  
“Yeah, I can see that clearly now.” Seth pouted up at him.  
“Don’t make faces like that. You don’t want to be stuck with an ugly face for the rest of your life, do you?”  
“I’m always gorgeous. At least that’s what you usually tell me.”  
“True. But if what my mother used to tell me is true, if you make a face too often it will freeze that way, and I doubt you want to have an Elvis sneer forever, müsli.”  
“I dunno, Elvis did pretty well for himself, you know?” Despite himself, Seth’s lips quirked up in a smile.  
“Well, I will certainly be your hunka burning love,” Tony said, doing his best Elvis.  
“Oh God, don’t ever do that again,” Seth said with a laugh. “Now help me up so we can find you a tie.”  
“Maybe I skip the tie tomorrow, and you stay lying down instead?”  
“That sounds like a better plan to me.” Seth pulled Tony down to meet him.

It was the Friday before Christmas. Dean had been bored out of his mind, so he decided to sample the mall with the popcorn from his kiosk. He was actually the owner of the popcorn stand, a franchise location. He’d inherited some money from a relative he hadn’t even known, and on a whim he’d bought it. He was doing decently, far better than he’d thought he would, but people were just not into popcorn this year. This was an excuse to check out what was going on in other stores, see how busy the mall was, and maybe finish his Christmas shopping. His first stop was the MAC store to visit Becky. She was coming over to bake with him, apparently a tradition she wanted to continue on with him. She was all alone, not able to get home to Ireland for the holidays, and even though he was an absolute disaster in the kitchen he was willing to try for the sake of his girlfriend.  
His next stop was the menswear store that Tony managed. His sweater was a truly awful masterpiece, a collage of everything kitschy at Christmas. He couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and Tony kicked him out – not without taking the samples first. Of course that made Dean beeline for Urban Planet to find Seth.  
“Dude. That’s like, insane. I can’t believe you have so many fuckin’ ugly sweaters and that Tony is still wearing them. You’re okay with being seen in public with him like that?”  
“Of course. He’s still hot, even in those sweaters. And it’s free advertising too. We sell all of them. Or, we did, we’re almost sold out. I keep telling you ugly is the new black at Christmas.”  
“Yeah, I think I’m gonna stick to actual black, man.” Dean idly picked through the stack of remaining sweaters. Becky had proclaimed a couple of Tony’s as being cute, so maybe he could get her one. “You think Becks would like this?” he asked, holding up one with a giant Rudolph face.  
“She might. But not that size. The ladies' sweaters are over here. You actually gonna spend money?”  
Dean shot Seth a withering look. “She’s my girlfriend. She’s baking with me tonight. I’ll buy her two sweaters for free cookies, and don’t act like you’d be any different.”  
“Ooh, she’s baking? That apple pie she brought for Thanksgiving was awesome.”  
“Right? So like, I gotta get her something she’d actually like, you know? And a gift card for makeup at her work will come in handy, but it kind of sucks as a gift. I wanna get her something to unwrap. I don’t know what else to get her. You and Tony got her membership at your CrossFit gym, and she works so many hours she doesn’t really have time for hobbies... this dating shit is hard, man.”  
“I think she’ll appreciate your effort no matter what. She knows you haven’t had many serious relationships, and that you’re actually trying speaks volumes. That you paid attention enough to notice she said something was cute... I think it puts you ahead of the game, you know?” Seth tossed him a sweater that looked more Becky’s size and steered him toward the registers. “So what time should Tony and I be ready to sample these cookies? We were gonna go out but Becky’s baking is gonna be worth a change in plans.”  
“She works until 7, but she’s coming over right from work. Don’t you heathens eat all my goddamn cookies. Go ahead and go out, I’ll save you some.”  
“Nah, man, I want them warm from the oven. It’s the only way. Cold milk too. Now I’m hungry.”  
“Good thing I brought you samples then.” Dean smiled as he handed over his credit card.

”Don’t you think you should have told me you were allergic to cinnamon before I made cinnamon cookies?” Becky was trying for anger, but it was coming out scared.  
“I di’n’t know!” Dean managed to get out.  
“How do you not know something like that?” Tony was incredulous as he looked back at them through the rearview mirror as he drove like a maniac to get them to the emergency room.  
“He didn’t have the most usual upbringing.” Seth’s voice was tight as he twisted in the seat to keep an eye on things. Dean’s lips were swollen and he was wheezing but he was still getting air in, and they were only minutes away.  
“Ne’er had it ‘s far ‘s I know.”  
“It’s cinnamon! Not something exotic you can only get in Ireland!” Becky wailed out.  
“Calm down, Becks, we don’t need to get Dean worked up, okay?” Seth grabbed the back of Tony’s seat as he took a corner far too fast, pulling in to the long drive to Emergency.  
They all piled out of the car, Seth and Tony on either side of Dean, Becky racing ahead. As soon as the triage nurse got a look at Dean, they were pulled into a curtained room and an epi-pen administered. Questions being fired rapidly, nurses and doctors floating in and out, finally Becky and Tony being kicked out to wait in the waiting room. Seth had known Dean since junior high, so he could answer almost anything Dean couldn’t with a nod of his head. It wasn’t long before Dean was breathing okay again, an oxygen mask strapped to his face, but the doctors were going to keep him for observation for a while. Seth went to find the others to tell them the good news. He and Tony poked their heads in as Dean gave them a thumbs up, then ducked back out into the hall to give Becky and Dean a couple of minutes alone.  
“Poor girl. I don’t know if she will ever bake for Dean again.”  
“That also means poor us.”  
“Seth! That was very cold of you.”  
“I know.” He sighed. “It’s true though. And inappropriate humor is how I’m dealing with this. God. I’ve known Dean forever. He’s the first person I came out to. I can’t even think about how close this was to going completely to shit, you know? He doesn’t really have much family, and I don’t either... he’s my brother in every way but blood. I can’t...” Seth’s knees were suddenly weak, the feeling of blood draining down into his ankles leaving him lightheaded, and were it not for Tony’s quick reflexes he probably would have done a full face-plant on the floor.  
“Liebchen. He’s okay. We’re all okay. And you have more family than you think. I’m family, yes? And Becky. And Sami. And Alexa. We might not be blood, but we’re all family. We created our own strange little family at the mall, all orphans and foreigners alike. You know that, right?”  
“Yeah. I guess I never really thought of it that way. But you’re right.” Seth took a deep breath, pulling his weight back from Tony. “I guess it’ll be a family Christmas, huh?”  
“Of course it will.” Tony smiled before escorting him back into Dean’s room to say goodnight.

Christmas dawned bright and clear, but Tony and Seth had been awake for an hour already. Holidays didn’t mean a break from fitness, and they had already been to CrossFit and were on their way back to Tony’s apartment to start working on the Christmas feast. Seth was busily making a list of everything they needed to do, figuring out when exactly they needed to get the turkey in the oven, and worrying about whether they would have enough food to feed all twelve people. The whole gang was going to be there. Seth hadn’t realized it until Tony had pointed it out the other day, but their little group was comprised of people who were mostly alone in the city. So all eight, and their dates, had no other family obligations on Christmas day and were going to get together by three in the afternoon to have an old-fashioned family Christmas together. Mulled wine and Christmas crackers and all.  
Tony called the first shower as Seth triple checked the turkey brining in the sink. He turned as he heard Tony come out of the bedroom and approach the kitchen. Tony was hiding something behind his back, unfurling a bundle of cloth once he had Seth’s attention.  
“Babe, the deal was to wear an ugly sweater every day until Christmas. You don’t have to wear one tonight.”  
“Ah, but this one is different.” He held it up so Seth could see it more clearly. “This is a sweater built for two. Call it my revenge for your bet. We will wear it to greet our guests. I know they already joke that we are joined at the hip, so we will show them how true it is.”  
“I am not wearing that monstrosity,” Seth said with a shake of his head.  
“What if I made it worth your while? And it will only be until everyone has arrived. Not all night. I actually thought giving it to Dean would be amusing.”  
“Worth my while, huh? Well, I guess I could, for a little while...” Seth drifted closer, running the tip of a finger down Tony’s muscular chest. “Got anything in mind?”  
“We have a couple hours before the turkey must be attended to, and you still need to shower...”  
“Hmmm... I guess it’s about to be a very merry Christmas to me, huh?” Seth smiled almost evilly as he stepped into Tony’s embrace.  
“A very merry Christmas indeed.”

Family, friends, food, fun. All in all, it was the best Christmas ever.


End file.
